Watch: Moon Wheel – ÁlæifR

Moon Wheel – the solo project of former Pissypaw member Olle Holmberg – will finally spawn a proper release next month in the form of a self-titled Not Not Fun cassette, following a split cassette with Ill Winds last year. The now Berlin-based artist recorded this track in 2010 while he was sharehousing in Melbourne with members of Fabulous Diamonds and Superstar, living the rock ‘n roll / elegant Australiana dream. “I was inspired by having lots of spare time, lots of instruments and music equipment laying around, and having been introduced by Matthew Brown to Austrian meta-musician Clara Mondshine,” he told me in an email.

The track below, ‘ÁlæifR’, was the very first track Holmberg recorded under the Moon Wheel name, and will feature on the cassette. ÁlæifR translates to ‘ancestor’ in ancient norse, and is the Scandinavian root of Olle – the artist’s name. The clip was shot in Sweden by Holmberg and Hannah Schiefelbein in the summer of 2011.

‘ÁlæifR’ won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has listened to and absorbed some of Moon Wheel’s other publiclyavailable material (both of which also feature on the cassette). It’s probably the most immediate though, its gentle retro synth melodies and muted percussion recalling several modern takes on ye olde BBC Radiophonic Workshop sonics. The Mondshine influence is very apparent too. We await the full cassette with mouths unflatteringly agape.